


245 Days

by Quantum_Tarantino



Category: RWBY
Genre: Christmas Presents, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Weiss Tryhards Everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28319676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quantum_Tarantino/pseuds/Quantum_Tarantino
Summary: Weiss comes to the blood-curdling realization that, now that she has actual friends, she needs to buy them Winter Solstice presents.245 days is far, far too few to get something appropriate for everyone, but she'll be damned if she doesn't try.
Relationships: Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	245 Days

_Oh..._

Weiss's blissful state of almost-asleep was disturbed as a cohort of errant thoughts bounced around in her head, striking her with a sudden realization as they came together the right way.

_Oh no._

Her eyes shot open in the darkness of the dorm room, the underside of Ruby's precarious bed crystal-clear in her vision.

 _I like them_.

_I actually like them._

That, in and of itself, was something she had been dimly aware of for a while now. Her team, mismatched as it was, was now something dear to her. Despite Ruby's kluziness. And Blake being an ex-terrorist. And Yang being... aggravatingly Yang.

It was a good thought. Friends weren't something she had had, up until now. She hadn't even expected to have them here, really – "allies" were something she had been working towards, but then the bastards had snuck up to her and gotten close.

No, that she was fine with. More than fine. She loved them.

But that was a dangerous road to walk as it came with responsibilities. Forget being a good teammate or uprooting most of what she had been taught to believe as a kid, no, what actually gripped her stomach with icy fingers now was the knowledge that the Winter Solstice was coming up in eight short months.

That meant gifts.

She'd have to buy them gifts.

She swallowed, suddenly wide awake.

How did one buy gifts? No, scratch that. Buying she could do. She was a Schnee after all. Purchases came to her naturally, but it wasn't a money issue here. It was an issue of thoughtfulness.

She turned on her stomach and pressed her chin into the pillow. Eight months for three teammates? Impossible. How did anyone find heartfelt gifts for each of them on a brutal deadline like that? It's not like she could just _ask_ them, was it? That would defeat the point. They were supposed to be all... profound and touching and demonstrating how deeply she knew the person to be able to buy them something they liked without even asking. And it's not like the internet would help her one bit. She had an inkling that a search for "Yang Xiao Long" would provide something... less than constructive, especially after the limelight of the Vytal festival.

She stared at the wall. She had to act. Now.

* * *

_"Call it skulduggery, reconnaissance or something less charitable; intel on your opponents is paramount,"_ she remembered Jacques telling her once. Liking to hear oneself talk was a sin Weiss had grown to despise more with each passing monologue, but as much as she hated the thought of Jacques giving her anything but an X-chromosome, he still was the single most successful businessman on the planet by any metric which mattered.

 _"So, know your enemy. You must react to their_ motives, _not to their actions. Do the latter, and you will be playing their game by their rules."_

Weiss took a deep breath and schooled her face into a mask. Calm, indifferent. A frown, calculated, as if she had remembered something. She mentally ran through her alibi once again, and she shook her head when Yang glanced at her.

"What is it?" Yang asked, tilting her head and interrupting her conversation with Blake as they walked to the cafeteria.

"I forgot to assign my group on Peach's class. Can I borrow your Scroll?"

Yang shrugged and fished it out of her back pocket and handed it to her. "Sure. Don't want to get stuck with CRDL or something. Just don't log me out, okay?"

Hook, line and sinker. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she managed a blasé "thanks" as she took the Scroll, flicking open the browser and starting a cached session. She waded through the menus and input her credentials as Yang turned back to Blake, and she made her move.

_Home._

_Contacts._

_D... nothing._

_F? No._

Weiss almost felt herself sweat. _O? "Old Man 💪". Jackpot._

That had to be Taiyang. She looked at the number intently for a few seconds, committing it to memory, and she tabbed back into the group page. A few taps and she slid herself into Pyrrha's group and closed the programs.

"Thanks, Yang." She handed the Scroll back to her, and Yang didn't even look, just pocketing it as they walked.

Weiss's head felt like it was bursting between the tension and the numbers she was mentally rattling off. Any moment now they'd ask where her Scroll was, and she'd tell them that she had borrowed it to Nora who had broken her own and forgotten to charge Weiss's last night which was why she hadn't had it on her during the class to sign up with as she had left it on the charging pad in the dorm.

"...Like, no joke, Dove is actually a freak with that sword of his. Almost handed my ass to me on Monday's extra sparring classes. The rest are a joke without a punchline on a good day, but he? I wouldn't even mind having him with me on the shuffle rounds." Yang spread her arms wide, making vague slashing motions.

"Really?" Blake asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought they were all equally disappointing."

"I mean, as far as personalities go, yeah, but he's got flexibility. Disarmed him and thought I had won, but then he turned that into a messy brawl which cost me a good twenty percent until I managed to trip him up. I don't know where he picked it up from."

No? No questions? Just... giving Weiss her Scroll with no alarms raised?

"Wasn't Weiss with him on one of Goodwitch's classes?" Ruby asked, leaning forward to make eye contact across the group.

Weiss took a breath, cycling the phone number in her head. "That was just Dustcraft. I didn't even notice him there."

Fools. Gullible fools.

Lovely ones, but gullible.

* * *

...three six five nine. She bit her lip and tapped the call icon aggressively, double-checking that the dorm was empty. Nobody there but her and her computer. Yang was with Pyrrha, Ruby was cheering them on, and Blake was downtown. The sounds her Scroll made while waiting the call to connect were blaring in the silence, and she almost flinched when Taiyang picked up.

_"Master of the Xiao Long household speaking. Who dares?"_

Weiss blinked. "It's... Sorry, it's Weiss. Weiss Schnee. I'm teammates with your—"

 _"Oh fu—I mean, sorry. Thought you were a spam— Anyway."_ He cleared his throat. _"The girls have mentioned you a lot. Can I help you? Is everything fine?"_

"Well, yes. Mr. Xiao Long, sorry if I'm intruding, but I'm having a minor... dilemma. You see, Ruby and Yang – Well, I would quite like to prepare some Winter Solstice presents for them, and I'm not quite sure what angle to approach from. I was just wondering about what they have gotten in previous years? Just for... inspiration."

There was a silence, and Weiss felt her stomach turn and shrivel into a knot.

_"Really? Gosh, I don't... Actually, no, wait. I keep a diary. Hold on."_

"Sir, that's not—" Weiss started, but she was interrupted as the Scroll made an ungodly clattering sound, followed by receding footsteps.

Okay, that was unexpected, but she could work with that. The drummed her fingers to ease her anxiety, minutes stretching by.

* * *

"No no, thank _you,_ Tai. This is invaluable."

Tai laughed on the other side. _"Don't even mention it. Anything for my little ones. Really though, I appreciate the effort, and I'm sure they will too. I can see why they have mentioned you as much as they have."_

Weiss blushed. "Just... doing my part. I should start preparing, though."

_"By all means. Give me a call if you need anything else, okay?"_

She'd never. "Of course. Thank you again."

_"Don't mention it. Looking forward to meeting you in person."_

That was... not something Weiss heard often. No, she had, but not with that tone. She smiled. "You as well. Bye."

She shut the Scroll and put it down, taking a moment to let the tension drain out of her body, and then straightened up to rub her hands together.

Full archives. On every gift. Gods bless Summer for keeping track, and gods bless Tai for continuing the tradition. She had them all listed in a nice spreadsheet on her computer, full with detailed annotations on each.

Poor, poor sisters. They'd never know what hit them. Ruby least of them, as Weiss already had a target in mind.

* * *

"Winter?"

_"Yes?"_

As curt as ever.

"I need your help."

Weiss couldn't hear it, but she saw in her mind's eye how Winter straightened up, face falling to that natural, all-business scowl.

_"What is it?"_

"I need help making friends. Or, keeping them."

 _"Speak."_ If anything, Winter's voice grew harder.

Weiss smiled. "You have contacts in the military, right? I need some contraband."

Not even a beat. _"Narcotics, explosives, intelligence?"_

"Raw materials."

There was a pause, and Weiss could hear Winter still breathing as she considered.

_"Call me on my encrypted SID."_

Weiss allowed herself a smile. Everything was coming together.

* * *

"Penny."

"Weiss."

Weiss pulled her into a secluded corner and glanced around. She had long since memorized her teammates' schedules, so it should be safe at least for the next fifteen minutes.

"I need your help."

Penny tilted her head. "Of course. What can I do?"

Weiss pulled her into a conspiratorial huddle. "It's Ruby."

And just like that, Penny's childlike innocence fell to the wayside, replaced by the look of a hardened killing machine, her brow furrowing. A few faint clicks emanated from her back as her sword array prepared to unfold.

"Talk to me, Weiss," she replied, tone dead-serious.

Weiss nodded. Good. "Winter told me you could help. I need you to embezzle from your maintenance supplies. There are certain... items there which are of interest."

Penny squinted. "For Ruby?"

"Winter Solstice is near, Penny."

She looked confused. "It's... May."

"And if we don't act sooner, it will be later. And later is too late."

Penny paused for a few beats, looking down while thinking furiously. "I don't follow, Weiss. I'm sorry?"

"Presents, Penny. Presents."

And like that, understanding dawned on her face. "Oh, and you need—"

"—your help. The requisition system is not easy to fool, but I think I have found a loophole."

Penny looked conflicted, but she nodded after a moment. "Yes. For Ruby."

Weiss smiled. Blessed robot, this one.

* * *

One down, two to go. Weiss drummed her fingers on the keyboard, inputting a senseless string of repeating letters into one of the cells of the spreadsheet. Penny would pull through, but Yang and Blake were the next two big question marks. Yang's column listed recurring haircare products which had been generally received well, but that wasn't good enough. It'd be _basic._ She was a Schnee.

Schnees didn't do basic.

It ran in the family. Winter had skipped the basic training in the army by first beating her combat evaluator into the pavement while staying above 90% Aura and then disappearing off the face of the planet for several weeks, emerging with a certificate and a hole in the records which remained classified to this day.

No, ordering shampoo from Mistral would be received well, but it would not be good enough.

She eyed the rest of the column. Yang was smart and warm and fun, and... a lot of things. Bit of a motorhead. Something for Bumblebee?

She considered. Maybe. A repair kit? Were those a thing? Custom-made tools? She didn't know anything about them. Asking would be difficult.

Wracking her brain, she circled around Yang. Warm, really warm. She hugged a lot. Even when not asked. Especially when not asked. Loved Ruby. Good conversationalist. Good sense of humor. Lovely voice. Smooth—

She shook her head. She was running out of time, and she needed to have several proverbial irons in the fire at once.

Blake, then. Anything relating to being a Faunus was right out. That included a new bow. That would be just presumptuous. A book, then? Yes, there was that series she was reading... _Father of Forgetting?_ That sounded familiar.

She did a quick search which let her down. The next installment had been in the works for two years now, and the last update from the author was from last year, promising nothing. A signed copy would have been great, but that wasn't happening.

She glanced at Blake's bookshelf. She had the last two parts already, both signed. No, a dead end.

What else did she read? A lot. _Ninjas of Love?_

No, definitely not. They had all tacitly agreed that those did not exist in this dorm. What else? There was that one she kept badgering everyone to read. It was... She furrowed her brow, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

 _Centipede._ Yes, that.

She searched for it, looking for breadcrumbs, and learned that it wasn't actually a printed book. It was entirely online, free to read, and written by a hobbyist.

Gods, this was _long._ Her eyes glazed over as she scrolled the table of contents. How Blake had the time to read something like this was beyond Weiss. She couldn't imagine finding the time herself, even if she were interested. This was like eight normal books in one.

She slowed down her scrolling. There it was. An idea.

She looked at the calendar reflexively. Almost June. She could feel the deadline creeping up on her.

No matter.

* * *

"Weiss, you okay?"

Weiss straightened, refusing to blink so as not to appear as tired as she was.

"Yes. Why?" She turned to Ruby who was looking at her in concern.

"You just seem... tired. More tired than usual."

The mask fell back on. Conspiring their gifts was not an easy task, but it was one she had to erase every trace of. "Slept poorly. It's fine, it just happens sometimes."

Ruby frowned, and Weiss felt her heart crack a bit at the look. "No, Weiss, really. Are you..." She trailed off, then found her courage and looked at her sternly. "...are you _okay?_ Usually you're so peppy for Goodwitch's classes, so if there's anything you need to, you know, talk about. Please do."

Gods bless her. Weiss put on a slight smile and punched Ruby gently on the shoulder. "No, I'm fine. It just happens sometimes. But I am thankful that you asked. I really am."

Ruby looked at her, unable to see the partial deception, and nodded with a smile. "Yeah, okay. Sorry."

Weiss huffed rolled her eyes, the smile not leaving her face. "Dork."

* * *

Weiss found herself where she had started, face-first on her pillow in two in the morning.

This had turned into... a difficult situation.

Yang.

Curse her.

The audacity.

Had she planned all this? Just to make her suffer?

That whore had up and started _dating_ Weiss.

Just like that. No warning. No lead-up. Just hugging her and giving the usual kiss on the cheek and out of nowhere, she asked the question no sane woman could say no to.

And now, as the leaves had started to turn yellow, Weiss didn't have to just buy a gift for a dear friend, goodness no, but for a _girlfriend_.

How did people do this?

What was she even supposed to do? Give her a ring?

No.

That would just kick the can down the road because then come next year she'd have to buy a gift for her _wife_ which would be even worse than her current predicament.

There was a quiet sound as Yang turned in her bed, and it made Weiss's chest hurt. She had to do well. No, not well. Great. She just had to. Yang was... gods she was _so much_ and she was so much to Weiss. She couldn't just... just... half-ass it and call it a day. Ruby's present was already in a safe deposit box along with a partial copy of Blake's, but all Yang's was was an increasingly desperate set of notes on a spreadsheet locked in the deepest depths of her personal computer.

She bit her lip. She still had time. She'd figure something out.

* * *

Weiss gritted her teeth, digging her pen into the desk in front of her.

Fuck Yang.

Fuck Yang.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck _fuck_ Yang and her perfect cute little smile and hair and every fucking thing about her. Fuck how she felt when pressed against her body and fuck her chest and her sighs and fuck her. Fuck friends.

Weiss had had all the opportunities in the world to run off to be a crazed Dust hermit in the middle of a Grimm-infested wasteland, but no, of course not, she just had _had_ to fucking come to fucking Beacon to be put into a team with three absolutely _fucking_ wonderful people who looked past all her faults and made her feel loved and adored and absolutely fucking terrified because there were three months to Winter Solstice and fuck fuck _fucking_ fuck.

She took a deep breath and held it in. Just doing that forever would let her escape this hell that was her mortal coil, but her autonomic nervous system refused to give her that out and forced her to continue breathing after her lungs started burning.

She tried not to pant in the classroom, and directed her attention on the slides.

"And as we can see on diagram three, the portion of the crystal manifesting as BCB sharply goes down as FCC spikes up accordingly. Can anyone tell why?"

Without even thinking, the thought passed through her mind. It was because the doped-in impurities are primarily Te-base and the use of the excitation chamber imparted a greater effect on those, forming denser lattices around the impurities. The result would be improved by using a coupled-base dope instead, and that along with a washing step formed the backbone of most high-carat Dust synthesis. Including the process Weiss had used to prepare her own munitions since she was 14.

She let the rest of the implications drain out of her head as she looked out of the window. Yang. Fuck Yang.

An enthralling thought.

But not one she should dwell on now.

Her autonomic nervous system, that backstabbing bastard, seemed to disagree, and her thoughts wandered to that one time Yang had forgotten a specific folder open on her phone which involved a whole lot of... inspiring material.

And now she was blushing. She controlled her bite to keep her teeth from cracking, and she closed her eyes. Not the time to imagine Yang doing all of those thin— and now she was thinking about it.

No. With sheer effort of will, she directed her attention on Glynda, whose stern look grounded her. Right, presents.

Her subconsciousness refused to budge from its position of a scantily-clad Yang being tremendously more interesting than a rehashed Dustcraft lecture, and she just groaned internally. She was going to have to resort to desperate measures.

* * *

And just like that, it was winter. The days were getting darker, and the deadline was almost here.

And Yang.

That conniving bastard.

Had had the audacity of inviting her team over to Patch for the holidays.

Meeting the parents. Or parent, as the case was, unless the reunion was going to be a whole lot more violent and/or necromantic than planned.

Who could say no?

"Dad!" Ruby screeched, throwing her arms up and smearing a red streak up the snow-covered hill where she impacted with a tall figure who was making similar, if lower-pitched sounds on the porch of a quaint house.

"Those are some impressive reflexes," Blake mumbled and readjusted her backpack. "Catching Ruby while she's all blurred-up isn't a small feat."

"That's our old man!" Yang shot them a smirk. "Calls himself an old fart but honestly, I would give him even odds against Goodwitch."

"That's—" Weiss started, but she managed to swallow the rest. Goodwitch was not only a master but an artesan of her craft, and she would win nine times out of ten, easily, but she let Yang have her delusions. Family matters and all.

"That's what, love?" Yang asked, turning to her.

All planned. That conniving, conniving bastard. She _knew_ Weiss knew that Glynda would win.

"...a very high opinion you have of him. I'm looking forward to meeting him."

"Mmhmm." Yang knew she had gotten under her skin, and she left it as that as they trekked up the hill.

 _"Zwei!"_ came a painfully high-pitched sound from inside of the house, followed by a lot of barking. Tai glanced over but stayed at the front door to welcome them in.

"Firecracker! Weiss! And Blake, was it?"

"Sup old man." Yang swung her bag on her back and took Tai in a hug. Normal to a casual observer, but Weiss sensed a spike of ethereal heat coming from the pair. She had seen Yang bear-hug concrete to gravel like that, and Tai didn't even flinch.

Tai grunted and eventually pushed Yang to be an arm's length away, holding her shoulders. "Goodness you've grown!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Every time. Keep doing that and I just might start saying the same thing about your stomach."

Unfettered, Tai continued. "Oh, that reminds me, When I heard that you had friends coming over, I went ahead and dug out all of the old baby albums of you two! I'm sure we'll have a grand old time going over them!"

Weiss bit back a smirk as she watched how just the smallest change on Yang's expression had her pure grin wither into a horrifyingly soulless grimace as Tai went on.

"Dad..." she said slowly, but Tai talked over her.

"Don't worry, I left them all on the living room table. We can go there in just a second—"

"I gotta go," Yang said hurriedly and wrenched herself from Tai's grip, twisting around him and running inside.

Tai smiled and followed over her shoulder, then turned to Weiss and Blake. He lowered his voice. "Don't worry. Those are decoys. I didn't damn well keep a camera at hand for years if I can't use that effort to embarrass them to death."

Weiss laughed and extended her hand. Some things definitely ran in the family. "Tai."

He shook his hand with a smile. "Weiss. Good to meet you." He turned. "And you must be Blake."

Blake seemed to be a bit confused, but she extended a handshake of her own. "Yes, thank you. I've heard a lot."

"True, all of it. I swear." His smile came to him easily. Another thing Yang had picked up from him. "Come inside. It's freezing out there, and Zwei is going to lose it when he figures out that there are more people to greet."

Weiss nodded and took a step in front of Blake, making eye contact. An unspoken agreement was struck where she agreed to be the meatshield for all of the fuzzy affections coming their way.

"Oh, and also..." Tai looked over his shoulder and stared Weiss down. He smirked and gave her an exaggerated wink before whistling half a tune and walking in.

"He was..." Blake started, eying Weiss suspiciously. "Friendly."

"Yes," was all Weiss said as she made her way in. She didn't have to come up with an excuse as she heard the incoming patter of claws on hardwood flooring, and she fell into a crouch to catch the incoming missile.

* * *

A lesser mind would have struggled with smuggling the presents in, but thankfully Weiss was both far-sighted and with good contacts. She had sent the presents well in advance, and Tai had picked them up sometime last month. They sat among the rest under the tree, blending in easily.

Tai pulled a winter coat on himself. "You girls start with the main event, eh? Zwei goes kind of..."

"Ballistic," Ruby said.

"Rabid," Yang added.

"...when wrapping paper is involved. I'll take him for a walk for half an hour or so."

Weiss could barely hear the words over her own pulse. All that scheming and trickery, coming down for this. The four of them, seated around the festive tree.

Gods, it wasn't enough, was it. Ruby was in the bag and Blake would be appreciative, but Yang... Gods it was just a book. With some accessories. So, so... banal.

What if she hated it? Oh. Oh no.

She shook her head. No, Yang was nice. She'd understand the effort.

"...this one?" she heard Ruby say, grabbing the corner of a blocky present and having it slip from her grip due to the sheer heft of it. "Oh wow. That's heavy."

She grabbed it with two hands and hefted it onto her lap, face puzzled. "Card says..." She blinked and looked up. "From 'Weiss and a very helpful elf.'" She trailed off, turning the card around. "Is that a drawing of Penny with a pointy cap?"

Weiss just smiled smugly, enjoying every moment of the confusion.

"...where did you keep that?" Yang said under her breath as Ruby started tearing the wrapping paper.

"I'm resourceful."

Yang opened her mouth, but Ruby's "No way!" quieted her.

Ruby pulled one of the ingots out of the pack.

Blake leaned closer. "Is that..."

"Why," Weiss said, unable to keep it in. "Composite Gv-alloy ingots, straight from Atlas R&D production line? The ones unavailable to the general public?" Ruby squee'd, and Weiss continued. "The ones that have a two-year waiting list for licensed Hunters, with Atlesians having priority?"

"Yes!" Ruby said, mouth open. "I..." she swallowed, turning the ingot around in her hands. "I don't even know how to machine this." A smile crept on her face. "I don't... Weiss."

Weiss _glowed._ She couldn't keep it down, and she had to look away and find something to do in tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Penny helped. No, Penny did most of the work. I coordinated, and... Yeah."

Months of training kept her almost upright as Ruby tackled her in a hug. "Weiss!"

"Ruby!" she retorted, laughing, and half-heartedly pushed her away.

"That's too much! That's not fair!"

"You're my partner, you buffoon. I want you equipped to kill. It's for my own safety!"

Ruby loosened her death grip on Weiss a fraction. "But still, that's... Man, I only got you that lame Dust testing kit while you went through all the effort..."

"Hey!" Yang butted in. "No spoilers!"

Weiss pushed Ruby away enough to look her in the eyes. "Call it an extended apology if you want. I wanted to see you with that metal, and I got exactly what I wanted from this."

Ruby pouted. "Still. You're a meanie." She paused. "I love you anyway though and gods I don't even know what I want to do with those ingots!"

"Hey." Yang put her palm on Ruby's face and pushed her off despite the indignant sputter. "I had dibs on her." With that, she hoisted Weiss onto her lap and laced her hands over Weiss's stomach.

She had gotten surprisingly used to being manhandled like that, so she took it in stride with only a token huff of being treated like a beloved sack of potatoes. Ruby stuck out her tongue at Yang. "She's your partner, but she was my _partner_ first. Don't forget it!"

Yang ignored her and just pecked a kiss on the crown of Weiss's head. It was apologetic enough – that is to say, not in the slightest – that Weiss was mollified and settled more comfortably on Yang's lap.

"Love," Yang murmured to Weiss's ear as Ruby showed one of the ingots to Blake who was pretending to follow what the implications were. "You're putting me in a bit of a spot if you pull something like this one me, you know?"

Maybe. She felt a little bit bad if the others thought that it was all meant to be transactional, but...

"Don't worry," Weiss murmured back. "I'm honestly thinking that I may have blown yours. Sorry in advance."

Yang snorted. "You think too much."

"You're cute too much."

And with preternatural ease, Ruby detected a saccharine public display of affection coming, and interrupted her explanation to let out a gagging sound. "Please, get a room, you two."

Yang laughed and Weiss looked aside, flushing but smiling.

Before Yang could double down on the threat, Blake came to the rescue by clearing her throat to interrupt any further bickering. "I can't help but notice that there's a suspiciously tall present with my name on it. One I really don't remember any of us carrying here."

Heads turned towards the tree, and Yang spoke up. "Oh come on, that one? I _saw_ how little you packed. That tower did not fit in."

Weiss only smiled. "I am told that I am resourceful."

Blake reached over to haul the teetering present to herself. "Seriously, Weiss, if this is something as expensive as Ruby's—"

"It isn't. I swear. And, technically, Ruby's didn't even cost that much since it's... not exactly within the spirit of the law, but..." She trailed off as Yang subtly clenched her fingers against her stomach. "Anyway."

Blake gave her a weird look and carefully pulled the ribbon off the present, moving it aside and tearing the top open. She froze there, one ear flicking once.

"This doesn't exist, you know," she said after a moment.

"Such a shame," Weiss said with a smile.

"What is it?" Ruby leaned over to look at the top of the present.

Blake stayed there, motionless. "Centipede."

"Wow," Yang said, exaggerating. "I hope I get a spider."

Blake rolled her eyes and pulled the top book off the pile, turning it in her hands. "The book. It's not even published. It doesn't have physical copies. Did you...?" She looked at Weiss and let her finish the sentence.

"Have it printed and bound in its entirety? Yes, I did. I wanted it as one book, but, well, the person running the shop told me that it's not physically possible, so it's there in eight volumes. Plus a little something at the bottom." And that little something had taken up a lot of her time.

"Don't tease me like that," Blake groaned and started pulling the books off to get to the bottom. "Really, thank you. Physical books are just nice to own and this is my favorite one. And... No." She stopped and pulled out a neat bundle of papers. "Weiss, please don't tell me you read it."

"Every bit. That's an essay of my thoughts as I went on. I thought you'd like my perspective." The story would've been good, too, if it weren't for the fact that it took approximately fife and a half lifetimes to actually go through. She had dredged on anyway, whittling at the monolith in her free time.

Blake flipped through a few of the pages, a disbelieving smile on her face. "I'm speechless. Really. Weiss, thank you. You really didn't have to."

"No, but I wanted to. I enjoyed it." That wasn't a lie. Maybe she hadn't enjoyed the nights she had spent that one extra hour reading instead of sleeping, but the point stood.

"Weiss, you're really making me nervous right now," Yang murmured a bit more loudly while Ruby scooted over to look at the essay. "I know you'll like the thing I brought for you, but that was just a trip to the jewelry store and not an... an undertaking like this."

"And I said," Weiss murmured back, "that I blew yours and I trust that you'll love me regardless, okay?"

Yang made a show of sighing. "Fine, okay. I'll bite the bullet, just give it to me."

Right. End of the line. She had banked on being able to postpone it at least a little bit while other presents were unwrapped, but apparently she was going all-in from the start. Weiss shuffled in place and pulled out a small black book with leather covers from under her shirt. She had kept it close, and it had no name or card on it. Just a black band running from top to bottom to keep the cover closed. Weiss cleared her throat and shuffled away from Yang's lap, holding the book in two hands before handing it over.

"Okay, what's..." Yang started, but Weiss held onto the book, making eye contact with her.

"This book contains some things I have been thinking about, of which we will not speak here. The inner cover has a key to a safety deposit box in Vale, which contains some props to go with the book."

Yang squinted at her, mouth parted in confusion. Ruby crawled closer, and Weiss manifested a glyph in front of her to block her, not breaking eye contact with Yang. "You may look at the table of contents on page three here. No more. Understood?"

Yang was about to argue, but the tone of Weiss's voice stopped her. She looked at Blake who shrugged, then to Ruby who made a show of rubbing her head as if she had hurt herself on the glyph, and then Weiss let go of the book.

Yang flipped it open and looked over it.

A moment passed with her being motionless there, and a slow wave of bright redness crept up her face. Weiss might have been imagining it, but it looked like her hair glowed a bit too.

Yang pursed her lips and closed the book, pulling the band back over it to keep the cover closed. "Thank you, Weiss. I'll... talk more about this in depth. I'm—"

"Yang," Weiss said warningly.

"—intrigued." Yang seemed distant for a moment and put the book down, sitting on it for good measure. Their eyes met and she nodded minutely.

Looked like that had been a hit. It was hard to say.

Ruby looked at them. First to Yang, then to Weiss, then back to Yang. Then to Blake, who shrugged.

"I'm..." Ruby said slowly and deliberately, backing away. "I'm not going to think about that. If that's okay with you."

Weiss nodded, fighting a losing battle to keep her own blush down. "Thank you. Now, I believe there are a few other gifts to open."

Blake gave her a long, knowing look, but she elected to not say anything, and just pointed Ruby at another present to move them on.

* * *

Weiss sighed. It was well into the night and she was full – she did not know what devil Tai had made a deal with to make meatballs taste that good – and it was chilly outside. Not quite enough to be cold, but just enough that it was snowing. She was sitting with Yang on the porch, nestled in her lap with a blanket draped over them as they watched the gentle snowfall fill in the tracks left on the snow covering. She could trace the bouncy line Zwei had dragged around and through the front yard while they had played, a slew of boot prints trailing it.

She smirked as she saw the tumultuous spot where Ruby had turned into a blast of petals to intercept Zwei, who had tumbled into a snowbank and shot out from the other side. It was unreal how arguably well-adjusted adults could devolve back to a bunch of screaming kids the moment an excited small furry animal was involved. A melted crater in the show marked the spot where Yang had exploded as a defense against a well-aimed snowball, and Weiss couldn't help but huff in amusement at the memory. She found Yang's hand and squeezed it.

Yang squeezed back, rubbing her thumb back and forth over her knuckles. "Weiss," she said, trailing off. "I have to ask. Just how much effort did you put into those presents?"

Weiss frowned, forgetting the snowball fight. "A... lot, admittedly." Planning out the ingot heist hadn't been the easiest thing, especially when she tried to keep Penny from having to commit a felony. Blake's book series and essay had taken ages to finish, and Yang's... Well, it hadn't been the most time-consuming when it came to raw man-hours spent, but all of those... details hadn't been exactly easy to put all that on paper either. She still felt a pang of mortification go through her as she thought about it. And the accessories to go along with it had been a hurdle to buy because she couldn't exactly just walk in on any store in all of her pastry-white Schnee glory.

"And the... money? I don't think that was cheap either." Yang hurried to continue. "I don't mean to accuse you or anything, but it's just a lot, is all."

Weiss shuffled on Yang's lap, leaning backwards against her.

"Do you know what the net worth of my family is?"

Yang shrugged. "Like a billion. More than I can count."

"Three point nine trillion lien." Weiss let that hang in the air. "A billion is already a number so incomprehensibly huge that it goes over anyone's head. A trillion is a thousand times that. Literally more money than there are stars in the sky." She smiled mirthlessly. "By an order of magnitude."

Yang squeezed her closer. "You don't have to sell me on your dowry, dear."

She chuckled. "I mean, most of that went down the drain when I described to Jacques where he could shove it. I have an amount set aside, but—" No, she was getting off-track. "My point is that money was never an issue in my household. Anything I wanted, anything at all – I could just ask and have it. It followed that gifts were... not valuable, like that. They weren't even presents, really. Just having anything I could want at any time was a fact of life. Winter Solstice was pretty much the same as any other day. Mother insisted on having the chefs do certain foods, but what was that, really? I could have all that any day of the year."

She paused, and Yang let her gather her thoughts.

"I hear that the older you get, the less the festivities are about the presents and the more they are about the food and the company. For me, the first two didn't ever really even register, and the whole 'company' part didn't... really work out after a time." She had blurry memories of the more happier years. Then a lot of cold stares. Long absences. Stilted conversations. Quiet moments.

Not quiet like this. This was a comfortable quiet. Weiss leaned on Yang, who just leaned back towards her. The silences at home had been pregnant and foreboding, like pauses between arguments, even if said arguments never actually happened out loud.

"...it wasn't about the presents this year," Weiss murmured. "I just... I just really wanted to make it feel special in every way I'm not used to. Doing all that, putting in the effort... It was more for me than it was for you. If that makes sense."

Yang nodded, giving her the room to elaborate. Weiss didn't, and they just watched the snowflakes fall.

Eventually, Yang did speak up. "I'm glad we mean that much to you."

"You do."

Yang ran her hand up and down Weiss's side. A slow, pleasant motion.

"Just don't get it in your head that you have to give the perfect gift all the time every time to remind us of that."

Weiss scoffed. "There's no such thing as 'perfect,' and—"

Yang jostled her to interrupt her. "I've heard that spiel a dozen times, and for someone who doesn't believe in perfection, you're awfully perfectionist. I mean that. We know we're important to you, and you're important to us. A pile of chocolate and movie tickets would've been just perfect."

"I know." Weiss took a breath and closed her eyes to just feel the warmth of the loose embrace. "I still wanted to put in the effort."

Yang nodded slowly. "And I appreciate it. We all do. As long as you're happy, is all I mean."

Weiss smiled and turned her head, letting her new silver earrings swing in Yang's direction. "I am. And these are wonderful, thank you."

Yang just squeezed her, and they sat there in silence as the snow fell. Atlas proper was climate-controlled so you never saw real snow there, so being able to feel the full deafening silence of a world full of snow and devoid of people was lovely. The house was remote enough that there were no cars around, and the only thing she could hear was the muted, indistinct sound of living coming from the open door behind them.

"...also, um." Yang coughed. "About that book... I appreciate the prose, I really do, but you really _really_ did not have to put yourself in a position like—"

"Not one word," Weiss said. "And I want you to go check that deposit box before telling me that I really didn't have to. I spent quite some time picking out the props I liked." She left it at that, but as the silence dragged on, she couldn't help but add, "...you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find fox earbands with platinum-white fur."

Yang let out a very unladylike chortle, and she leaned backwards, pulling Weiss with her to tip over so that they lay halfway inside the house. "You minx."

Weiss smiled and didn't try to resist, letting herself fall backwards on top of Yang. Not the most comfortable position, but she couldn't imagine a better pillow.

"I'm glad you both came here," Yang murmured in her ear.

Weiss shuffled to a more comfortable position, keeping the back of her head on Yang's stomach. "Yeah," she eventually said. "Me too."

**Author's Note:**

> If I had more time, I would've given you a shorter chapter, but alas.
> 
> Pleasant yule and a brighter new year.


End file.
